Deone Walker Played His Junior Season with a Fracture in his Back

It was not the season Deone Walker envisioned. The enormous defensive lineman from Detroit was a projected first round pick, fresh off an All-SEC season. Another explosive year at Kentucky would lead him on a path to professional success. The funny thing about plans, they often change.

After wracking up 55 tackles, 12.5 TFLs, and 7.5 sacks as a sophomore, those numbers dropped drastically in 2024, tallying 37 tackles, 5 TFLs, and only 1.5 sacks. Something was wrong. Turns out, it was his back.

Walker was on and off the availability report, but the public was spared from specifics. All of those details come to light during the pre-draft process. He did not hesitate to share what was ailing him at UK Pro Day, the same day as his 21st birthday.

To speak in layman’s terms, Deone Walker played his final season at Kentucky with a broken back. Fifteen years ago when I suffered the injury, they called it spondylolysis.

“It was a pars defect,” Walker said on Tuesday. “That’s big terminology for me. I don’t know what that means, but it healed itself up. Now, I only gotta do PT to keep it right.”

A pars defect is a fracture on the wings of your vertebrae in the lumbar spine. It’s a painful lower back injury, albeit one that’s inconsistent. Some days you might feel fine, decide to grit and grind through a football game, then wake up and not be able to bend over to tie your shoe. I don’t know how Deone only missed one game with the injury.

“It was the whole season. If you all can go back and look at the games, you probably see me on the sideline, bent over because it was hurting so bad.”

He considered spending an extensive amount of time on the sideline to let the injury heal. Then, when other injuries stacked up on the defense — the group’s other stars, Maxwell Hairson and D’Eryk Jackson, each missed at least a month of football — Deone decided to continue fighting through the pain alongside his teammates.

“I didn’t want people to think I’m sitting out for the wrong reasons, just because I’m scared I’m gonna get injured,” he said. “I go 110% for this team.”

After learning what Deone Walker had to endure to play football for the Wildcats in 2024, I don’t think anyone can question his love for the University of Kentucky. Fortunately, this injury should not provide serious long-term concerns for NFL teams. If anything, it explains why he didn’t play up to his high standard during his final college season.

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